they came, they saw, they ate pt. 1

Emily and Dan visited us this weekend.

We:

-ate Pasquale’s pizza and wings

-sampled sponge candy and ice cream at Fowler’s

-walked around the village in East Aurora

-worked out

-ate Greek food on Elmwood in downtown Buffalo

-visited Niagara Falls

-got wet at Niagara Falls

-overate at the Pearl Street Grill

-watched part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

-worked out

-swam

-ate blueberry pancakes at Charlie’s Diner

-toured Vidler’s Five and Dime

-got drinks at Taste

-said goodbye

Longer post (with some photos) coming soon!

a mango for a pineapple, or i have awesome friends

This is a post a wrote last week but am just now getting to. It’s been a bit hectic, you know! We’re just about settled into the Staybridge Suites (I spent ALL DAY yesterday unpacking) but I’m not quite ready for the photo montage yet. Our first day in NY was relatively uneventful; just unpacking and driving to and from East Aurora a bunch, AND Pasquale’s pizza and wings for dinner–YUM! Must. Start. Counting. Calories. Again. ASAP!

Here’s the post:

Nicole gave me a goodie basket before we headed to Thai 9 the other night. Yay for presents!

Look! A pineapple on the front!

I love that my friends know me. I love that they love me. My love language is gifts. (I think it stems from not being spoiled as a kid. Before you protest, Mom, let me just say two things: 1. We had everything we needed and much of what we wanted, however, 2. I was in high school before we ever went shopping at the mall for school clothes.)

Not that anyone needs clothes from the mall to be cool… OK, apparently I have too many thoughts on the subject for right now, so I’ll just have to blog about my un-spoiled childhood some other time.) Bottom line: As kids, we were far from deprived, but our parents didn’t exactly shower us with goodies all the time, either. (In my parents’ defense, they chose “experiences” over stuff, like awesome vacations, horse-back riding lessons, gymnastics…)

ANYWAY, (I wish you could see the inflection I give that word when I’m really trying to get back on topic…) I love presents. LOVE presents. Christmas, for me, is the pinnacle of the year (yes, I know “Jesus is the reason for the season,” just emphasizing here). My birthday is a close second. Then Thanksgiving, because, come on–it’s all about FOOD. So, I’m a gifts kinda girl.

Thankfully, Andrew likes to shower me with presents. Like, SHOWER. Not that he’s a reckless spender (he’s anything but!), but he truly loves me and knows how to show me love.

OK, back to the goodie basket from Nicole. Awhile ago, I blogged here and here about how much I love mangoes.

It had a theme: mangoes! Including a real one 🙂

So excited about this lip gloss–saw it at Bath & Body Works when it first came out and wanted it so badly!

Pretty sure I’ve blogged about TJ’s Mango Butter…YUM. I’ve had it on everything from toast to yogurt to cottage cheese and ice cream…it’s a well-rounded condiment.

LOVE Bath & Body Works hand soaps. I just think they are so classy yet down-to-Earth at the same time. I cycle in and out of having them around the house (I feel like they are such a splurge, until I realize if you get them on sale they really aren’t much more than what you can find at Target).

Ohhh! Yummy candle…LOVE. Candles are another “splurge” for me…I mean, they do just evaporate away.

And a sweet card…note the line about the loudness of my voice. Yup, my friends know me well. Thanks Nicole 🙂

Shenanigans, part 6 or 7 or 8…

After the packers left and Andrew and I did some cleaning/rounding up around the house, we settled in at Jen & Dave’s to hang out before Jen came home from work. Translation: Andrew fell asleep and Dave and I watched a movie. Defiance. Daniel Craig is hot. In an older-man sort of way.

Jen was up for some shenanigans when she got home, so we headed down to Rita’s to meet Emily for some water ice.

Andrew wanted to make sure he said goodbye before we leave. Emily introduced me to Mint Oreo Cream Ice–yummy! I’m kind of a Rita’s “purist;” I grew up on Rita’s back when there were no “Blendinis” or “Mistos” or cream ice. Mango has always been my favorite (along with everyone else apparently; it’s there most popular flavor and is available every day) with plain chocolate (something I have yet to find at the Rita’s here) being a close second. Anyway, back to being a purist. I like my water ice plain or a gelati. No mixing for me. I splurged and got a gelati with vanilla custard.

Jen and Dave can be pretty goofy when they want to be. That, and Jen was already up past her bedtime.

I look so pale. And I want Emily’s hair. She’s so beautiful!

And because Rita’s at 9:45 at night wasn’t enough sugar for our bloodstreams, Andrew got a craving for pizza. We threw caution to the wind and headed to Little Caesars. Sadly, they were closed.

Not to fear; we drove to Emily’s where we plopped down on the couch and turned the television on. Has anyone ever heard of “Heartbreakers?” Neither had we. It was weird.

Emily prepped fruit for her early-morning drive and we said hello to Dan via phone:

Hi Dan! We missed you last night!

Then, the inevitable happened: Pizza was ordered.

It may not have been the best, but anything covered in cheese while hanging out with dear friends is just fine with me.

And you better believe my butt was on the treadmill this morning working it all off!

Movers are here loading up the truck and the basement is empty already.